True Blood Video

Sookie short stories

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Harris: OK, on book tour, people have brought me really personal things of theirs. People bring me ducks a lot, artificial ducks, because my name on my website is duck pond. I used to have ducks. We have a pond. But people bring me all forms of ducks. And some of them are a little large, you know and hard to travel with, but I probably have 400 ducks — you know stuffed ducks, plastic ducks, glass ducks, duck lights. (Laughs.) I have ducks. I have lots of ducks. And then someone brought me the paper dolls of the characters on “True Blood.”

Stewart: Oh, cool.

Harris: You know, someone put out the paper dolls, they brought me those, and I was going, OK, now that is different. The weirdest thing somebody has sent me, this woman and, God love her, she put so much work into them, she made all the houses in the series out of needlepoint and sent them to me. Yeah. I mean they’re small, but, gosh, that represents a huge amount of work. But talk about a gift I never expected to get … I was delighted that she was giving me her creativity in return for mine, but I was also astounded.

Vampires are alive and well (er, dead and well) and skulking about Louisiana, as any fan of HBO’s “True Blood” knows. But what they might not know is that the creator of Sookie Stackhouse and the series of books on which the show is based is a Mississippi native with a very large collection of ducks. Alison Stewart spoke with bestselling author Charlaine Harris about some of the odd moments in the life of a vampire storyteller.

Alison Stewart: Charlaine, true or false? You had vampire teeth made.

Charlaine Harris: I did. (Laughs.) … It seems kind of cheesy to me now, but about 10 years ago I had a really beautiful set made … from my teeth impression and everything.

The newest installment of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series is currently #1 on the bestseller list! I was able to have Ms. Harris sign a copy of the book for me, so I am now passing this wonderful treasure on to one of you!

As the vicious vampire Lorena on HBO's "True Blood," actress Mariana Klaveno shares a good portion of her screen time with Stephen Moyer, better known to fans of the show as southern gentle-vamp Bill Compton.

Although Lorena and Bill have quite the tumultuous relationship with one another on the blood-soaked vampire series — unsurprising, given the fact that Lorena turned Bill into a vampire back during the Civil War era — the dynamic between Mariana and Stephen off-screen couldn't possibly be any more different.more MTV

Question: True Blood spoilers are starting to surface, but none about the couple I’m most interested in. Do you have any Eric and Sookie scoop? —RoseAusiello: I don’t. Sorry. I may, however, have a scoop about Eric and the show’s new gay vamp, Talbot (Theo Alexander). Earlier this month, Alexander Skarsgård revealed to People.com that he recently shot a “very graphic [nude] scene with a man” on TB. Cut to a week later and TV Guide Magazine is reporting that one of the show’s hetero heartthrobs will hook up with Talbot this season. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? ‘Cause I’m thinking Eric and Talbot are going to be making some serious sexy time this season.

True Blood season 3 is going to start on June 13 and that means I have to get HBO again so I can watch it. It's an expensive habit, but ... sigh ... Sookie and Bill and that tall blond vampire of a man Eric -- so much going on, so many beautiful people!

Also beautiful, along with funky and sexy and fun, are these Gothic clothes and accessories that all have a vampy edge.

Boy oh boy, did I have so much fun tonight! I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Charlaine Harris Tour & Book Signing tonight in Portland, OR. I live just across the river in Vancouver, WA so I thought it would definitely be worth the trip to hear what this wonderful author had to say!

This is the very first author appearance and book signing I have ever attended, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Whatever I had anticipated was surpassed by how interesting the event was. Charlaine was a very funny and engaging speaker and she was extremely casual and laid-back. She did not stand up on stage and lecture about what a great author she was, etc., etc. Rather, the entire appearance was dedicated to answering questions from everyone in the audience. Her only caveat was that no one could ask about future events for her characters--we would have to wait and read book 11 once it was released. I have included some of the questions and answers that struck a chord with me below:

How does she write? Is she very thought out and methodical? No! Charlaine described herself as a "pantser"; she writes by the seat of her pants and writes whatever strikes her fancy at the time.

How does she feel about people comparing the Sookie series with the Twilight series? She said that she is weary of hearing that comparison. That some Twilight fans (not Stephanie Meyer herself) have accused her of stealing Twilight's story idea. She went on to explain with a laugh that her books were published five years before Twilight ever hit the shelves.